Capital City Bank Group, Inc. Just Beat EPS By 48%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

As you might know, Capital City Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCBG) just kicked off its latest third-quarter results with some very strong numbers. Capital City Bank Group delivered a significant beat to revenue and earnings per share (EPS) expectations, with sales hitting US$60m, some 17% above indicated. Statutory EPS were US$0.62, an impressive 48% ahead of forecasts. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Capital City Bank Group

After the latest results, the five analysts covering Capital City Bank Group are now predicting revenues of US$193.9m in 2021. If met, this would reflect a satisfactory 2.7% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to decline 13% to US$1.67 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$183.9m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.48 in 2021. There's been a pretty noticeable increase in sentiment, with the analysts upgrading revenues and making a nice gain to earnings per share in particular.

Althoughthe analysts have upgraded their earnings estimates, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$22.10, suggesting that the forecast performance does not have a long term impact on the company's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Capital City Bank Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$26.00 and the most bearish at US$20.00 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Capital City Bank Group is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Capital City Bank Group's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Capital City Bank Group's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 2.7%, compared to a historical growth rate of 6.4% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 1.3% next year. Even after the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Capital City Bank Group is also expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us is the consensus earnings per share upgrade, which suggests a clear improvement in sentiment around Capital City Bank Group's earnings potential next year. Pleasantly, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for Capital City Bank Group going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - Capital City Bank Group has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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